Simple question(s), Do you fear death? If so why?
I do not fear it all that much. Nothing I can do to stop it and it will be a once in a life time thing. I ask my sister this today and she said she hasd a fear of death because of the un-known, well I look at it like this. If there is an after life you will know when you die. And if not how will you know? you're dead. Anyone else agree?

VerifiedGold Member

I probably should be getting therapy for this but I honestly look forward to death. Not that I think dying will be great or anything, just I don't really have anything to look forward to in the short or long term and at least death would mean not having to worry about money or unhappiness or any of the other annoying things in life anymore. I'm much more afraid of living a very long life than dying.

Gold Member

I think everyone is afraid of dying, whether they admit it or not. If they weren't afraid of it, they would be dead. Avoiding death is a survival instinct. If you weren't afraid of death you wouldn't avoid hitting the tree in front of you in your car. You wouldn't hide from a tornado coming at you.

If you truly are not afraid of death, then you are more likely afraid of living. People who aren't afraid of dying act reckless, or fly planes into buildings.

I have this anxiety problem that used to be compounded by an even worse fear of death. I seem to have gotten to a point where death no longer seems like something to fear, however. I am still neurotic as all hell and I know I would potentially become scared shitless if I was imminently going to die, but I do not lose touch with reality like I used to. Partially because I am better at relaxing and knowing what situations set me off (the ones where I lose control...) but largely because the thought "maybe this is the end," does not freak me out like it used too. The actual notion of death is alright which brings me to my thoughts on existence:

We are all miraculously here, and we are all going to unceremoniously go back to where we came from. The elements in our body will rejoin with the Earth, and the energy we used in life will unleash itself back into the cosmos. Some people call this the spirit.

The human body is like a car. And just like a car, we age and break, and one day we wont start. Unlike a car, we cannot be restored. As a child, I wanted to be God and make things perfect, like cars and machinery in general. I would go around and look at all the imperfections in everything and fantasize about fixing it. When I started noticing my own physical imperfections, I longed to make myself perfect physically. Eventually I had a lot of anger that made me realize I could not be perfect in terms of what society likes. I searched for other viewpoints. Viewpoints that view the establishment with hostility. I no longer wish to be a perfect mechanical specimen like a car, or to change the environment to be "perfect." And now I question the logic that led to the desire for perfection in the first place. The thought that we need perfect bodies with 11 inch penises so that we can go out and properly pave the mountains to create clean sterile environments to build factories where we can all make perfect swiss watches and come home with our fat paychecks to take sexy long shiny haired vixens out to dinner in an effort to have a chance to procreate and make the next generation of utter perfection. Death does not perfectly fit that model. That is where Christianity comes in. But I wont get into that.

Point is, I used to buy into all of this. I would tell my friends that I was going to be elected God and pave over the forests. Nature was imperfect. It needed to be tamed.
Well I am older now, and I realize we grew from nature. Just like fungus. And I am not giving a dismal critique of humanity by comparing us to fungus. I do have a painful love for people in general and especially those close to me. But fungus can be very beautiful and fungus should be recognized. Our own judgements stand in the way of truth and inner and outer harmony. We judge fungus as imperfect. We judge ourselves as imperfect. We try to create perfection with technology such as Swiss watches, BMW's, the entire city of Dubai. These are things that can be fixed if they break. Fungus however, we try to kill, (unless it is of the mushroom or truffle variety) we hate fungus, especially if it is growing on our precious, perfect creations. We lose sight of the fact that like the fungus we so hate, we arose from the Earth. As a result of this collective dissociation we try to conquer death and make ourselves into machinery that can be fixed like an Aston Martin V12. Or for some of us, like a Chevy iron duke 4 cylinder. It is a losing battle. We are meant to return to the Earth just like the fungus. Some of us will not make peace with that fact, but ultimately it will happen and in the end death, not Sam Colt, is the great equalizer. Peace.

We just have to figure out what the hell it is that motivates us individually to want to tune ourselves properly to fit the different seasons of our lives and to go through the changes gracefully.

Nope. Like Bbucko, I have also had NDE's and I'm not phased by death at all. I use to before they happened but no longer. I tend to be more reckless and careless about outcomes now.
I think there is a very BIG difference in willing it and not fearing it. Who wants to live in fear? When my numbers up... it's up.

I know I fear it. I do not want to die. I love life way too much. I think pretty much everyone fears it and if they don't they are mentally ill. How could you not fear it? If they don't then why don't they just kill themselves. It's because they fear it. The only way I could see if someone wanted to die is if they were suffering a great deal and were in pain. Then it's valid.

I am a non-believer and 99.9999% convinced that once my brain cells have died I cease to exist. While sitting on this side of death it is at times unsettling to contemplate an eternity of absolute oblivion. But that is the human condition, the price that our species pays for self-awareness.

Gold Member

I am a non-believer and 99.9999% convinced that once my brain cells have died I cease to exist. While sitting on this side of death it is at times unsettling to contemplate an eternity of absolute oblivion. But that is the human condition, the price that our species pays for self-awareness.

Click to expand...

well said.

I cannot recall which philosopher (or book, or author, or movie...can't recall) said something like "Life is one tiny sliver of light in between two infinite darknesses"

I don't fear death, but it makes me very uncomfortable. I think you can only really fear things that you percieve you have some control over. Like, I have a completely irrational fear of spiders, but I can take my foot and squash them out. I have control over them. Once control is taken away, what's there to be afraid of. You set your alarm because you're afraid you'll get robbed. Not that the alarm will actually stop the theft 100% of the time, but there's a certain amount of control there. We are all going to die, it's a part of living. There's a beginning and an end, and no matter how much we may not want things to end, they inevitably will.

Plus, I think it's a lot harder to contemplate your own mortality when you're young. I feel like I have a lot more to do, so I certainly don't want to die any time soon. I personally don't believe that we cease to exist when we die. Sure, we aren't a part of the physical realm we know as life anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of other planes of existence upon which we can and will spend time. I suppose that helps alleviate a fear of death. It would be really hard for me to be a person who believes that life ends with breath. Again, there would be some perception of control there... just keep breathing.... but believing that it's inevitable that we will all someday move on to a higher plane, well, that's comforting. It's just turning the page to a new and exciting adventure.

Gold Member

I really have not spent much time dwelling on this. I have however interacted closely with my parents and some close friends who have had to make end of life decisions. I think that each person finds their way on this issue based on their life and circumstances at the time. My feelings are... you are born, you live and you die; I feel how you have lived your life determines your feelings at the end.

I personally don't believe that we cease to exist when we die. Sure, we aren't a part of the physical realm we know as life anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of other planes of existence upon which we can and will spend time. I suppose that helps alleviate a fear of death. It would be really hard for me to be a person who believes that life ends with breath...... but believing that it's inevitable that we will all someday move on to a higher plane, well, that's comforting.

Click to expand...

Wishful thinking is no substitute for evidence. I see no evidence whatsoever for life after death. I feel that I would have to be incredibly arrogant to believe that my little bit of consciousness is just too important a piece of the cosmos to ever come to an end and therefore that it must surely endure after my death.

Gold Member

I'm calling bullshit on everyone who says they do not fear death. Maybe your ego does not, but your being does. It is why you avoid going into the hood at 2 am. Fear is a survival mechanism that we all have. Just because you are at peace with death and accept it as the final outcome and it doesn't impede your life, doesn't mean (to me IMO) that you still do not fear it. If you were sitting on the couch with your family and a couple robbers came in guns blazing you would be shook and scared for your life. You wouldn't sit back and light up a j.

I also think people are mixing up what "fear" really is. "Fear" isn't setting an alarm clock so you don't get robbed; that is being obsessive and/or paranoid.

Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger.

I believe a more accurate question would be; do you have or suffer from anxiety regarding death?